Columbus, Ohio-based American Electric Power has begun to capture carbon dioxide at a coal-fired powerplant in New Haven, W. Va., as part of a $100-million, 20-MW validation-size carbon-capture and storage-system project. AEP hopes to begin injecting the gas into a well by Sept. 25. The firm demonstrated the technology on a 1.7-MW unit and has applied for $334 million in federal stimulus money to fund about half the cost of commercial installation. The system uses a chilled ammonia process to capture carbon dioxide and, at commercial scale, will capture 90% of the gas from part of the 1,300-MW plant. The

Geothermal energy experts are playing down worries about the threat of induced seismicity connected with enhanced or engineered geothermal systems (EGS) following news reports about an earthquake apparently caused by an EGS project in Germany. The project in the western German city of Landau in der Pfalz is continuing operation while a panel of experts evaluates data from the mid-August magnitude-2.7 temblor. Officials of Geox GmbH, the plant’s owner, deny the temblor was caused by their plant. +Image Photo: AltaRock Energy Inc. Enhanced Geothermal System Globally, about 9,000 MW of geothermal projects are operating today. Most of them tap water

The Maryland Energy Administration encouraged wind-energy developers on Sept. 15 when it issued a request for expressions of interest for future projects. “We have very significant wind off the Maryland coast, and we want to look into cost-effective ways to build offshore wind parks,” says Malcolm Woolf, agency director. The state seeks information to assist it in developing options, including financing, technologies, water depths and preferred capacities, he says. However, Maryland won’t consider wind parks in the Chesapeake Bay, Woolf says. He adds it could take at least two years before construction could start on the first offshore wind park.

Son La Dam, located on the Da River in northern Vietnam, will be the largest hydropower project in Southeast Asia when it is completed in 2012. Under construction since 2005, the roller-compacted-concrete dam will measure 139 meters tall, 900 m long and 4.8 million cu m in total volume. Installed capacity will be 2,400 MW. Over 5,000 workers were on-site by May 2009. Electricitie de Vietnam (EVN) is the owner. Colenco Power Engineering Ltd. (Switzerland) was responsible for design. SMEC International (Australia) is the lead construction supervision partner, along with Nippon Koei and J-Power of Japan. Song Da No. 9

Enbridge Inc. is “in full swing” on construction of its 326-mile-long Alberta Clipper pipeline in the U.S. and will not be deterred by a lawsuit filed Sept. 3 by two environmental groups and the Indigenous Environmental Network, says Denise Hamsher, Enbridge spokeswoman. The Sierra Club and Minnesota Center for Environmental Advocacy joined IEN in suing the U.S. State Dept. on the grounds that the permit was issued without impact assessments required by the National Environmental Policy Act and in violation of the Constitution’s assignment of environmental responsibility to Congress. Enbridge Energy Partners LP, Houston, began construction on the 36-in. pipeline

AltaRock Energy Inc., the Sausalito, Calif.-based firm trying to tap into geothermal energy by creating rock fissures in Geysers Geothermal Field in Lake County, Calif., suspended operations on Sept. 2 because of “physical difficulties” encountered when drilling the first 12,000-ft well. The project, funded by $6 million in federal funding along with private money, was controversial because of the possibility that the rock-drilling would trigger earthquakes. The engineered fissures are created by using a hydraulic pressure of up to 4,000 psi to “hydroshear” existing fractures, causing them to open slightly and slip.

Florida Power & Light, the Sunshine State’s largest utility, is in the midst of building a staggering 110 MW of solar generating capacity, the largest amount of utility-scale solar capacity ever planned outside the desert Southwest. The projects, which are valued at a total of more than $600 million, include conventional solar-photovoltaic facilities that will generate 25 MW and 10 MW, plus a 75-MW concentrating solar plant [CSP] in Martin County being built by Lauren Engineers & Constructors Inc. Photo: FPL Solar plant will supplement Florida gas-fired station. Related Links: Climate Change, Weak Economy Combine to Stymie Market Utility officials

Conservation will meet almost 60% of added energy demand over the next five years in the Pacific Northwest if a draft plan released on Sept. 4 by the Northwest Power and Conservation Council is adopted. Over the next 20 years, that figures jumps to 85%. The council devises a new plan every five years to guide power development in Montana, Idaho, Washington and Oregon. Each state’s governor appoints two members. Electricity demand will grow 2,058 MW between 2010 and 2014, says the plan. It suggests that 1,200 MW could come from conservation measures such as smart-grid energy management, power-storage improvements,

Uncertainty about the nation’s economic future and possible federal legislation on climate change and renewable energy is reshaping the market for building power-generation and transmission projects in the U.S., according to executives at some of the nation’s largest contractors. That uncertainty has led many coal-fired projects to be canceled or put on hold, several natural gas-fired projects to be delayed, and even some wind projects to be put on ice while utilities and independent power companies try to figure how long the recession will last and what Congress ultimately will agree to on a carbon cap-and-trade program and a renewable

Norway’s energy company, Statoil-Hydor, has launched a floating wind turbine, rated at 2.3 MW and claimed as the world’s first of its kind. In June, after assembly near Stavanger, the 65-meter-tall Hywind device with 80-m-dia blades was towed 10 km off Karmøy island for two years’ testing, beginning on Sept. 8. The 5,300-tonne unit, including a ballasted and anchored 100-m-deep supporting steel cylinder, is part of a $55-million research and development project. Photo: Statoil-Hydro